New At Torchlight

I'm new at Torchlight and I find it to be more complicated than Diablo 2. So far, I've only played the game and its sequel on Easy difficulty. I've beaten the first game with all three characters and the sequel only once.

Even then, I'm still learning about the game mechanics and how to build a powerful character. Like Diablo, the three classes seem to be designed for one style. The Destroyer, like the warrior, is best for melee combat. The Vanquisher is for long ranged combat like the rogue. And the Alchemist is the magic sorcerer.

I also have no idea what would be considered the best equipment for the characters. From what I have seen on the item database, many unique items have stats that are completely irrevelent and that you could never truly benefit from all of them. I have seen armor and weapons that require high strength, but one of the enchantments increases poison damage, an element that isn't used in any of the Destroyer's skills, and the vanquisher and alchemist aren't likely to raise their strength that high.

Right now, I'm writing down planned builds for each character. Each build lists the character's name, their style, and the skills they use. However I didn't bother writing down how high to raise their stats because I have no idea how to know I am not wasting stat points. I also didn't list their endgame equipment because that's too complicated.

Yet from what I have determined from reading online about many builds, a lot of players are focusing on making their builds on surviving Elite difficulty (possibly on ****), so I think that there is probably only one right way to truly make a character shine and a build that can take you through Easy, Normal, and possibly hard, won't stand a chance on Elite. Choosing a higher difficulty from the beginning is another difference from the Diablo series where you start a new character on the normal difficulty by default and unlock higher difficulties after beating the game.

I'll post my ideas for my planned builds on this forum in separate sections where appropriate. For now, I'd appreciate any advice and pointers on how to